I loved the call on Steve Byk’s show from Mike (Repole) of Queens. It just made my passion for racing greater.
I grew up working for a drug wholesaler that my father ran. I learned a lot about drugs’ uses After leaving that job I went to Breakfast at Belmont every day. I became friends with a trainer and one day he asked me if I wanted to go back to the barn to see the horses I was excited and went back. He asked me if I wanted to walk a sweet horse and I quickly said yes. This happened tor a few days. I was then asked to walk a second horse. On Friday he gave me some money for walking the horses and he said that I was hired.
We had a horse that was an ordinary horse. There was a tonic that each horse got 1 pump in their feed. We gave her 5 of 6 pumps every day. She won a race that weekend against much better horses. The trainer made a comment that the tonic wasn’t lasting as long as it should. We continued to give her the mega dose and decreased what we gave the other horses. She was entered again . She won and was claimed and never won again.
I saw a trainer who trained differently from other trainers and was always accused of doping horses. He regularly claimed horses and ran them back in 5 days and won. His barn was searched on a regular basis and nothing was found. He was giving them jugs (iv infusions) of legal vitamins. He didn’t get positive tests when his horses won and went to the spit box. His “secret” was don’t send the horses to the track but jog them around the shed row for an hour. They built up their wind and stamina. When they ran back quickly (less than 7 days) they ran like they were liked caged animals and won. They won at long prices and as short favorites. A trainer juicing horses would never juice a horse that was a short price. They would probably be tested as a short priced winner or as a favorite. He acquired a horse with a great pedigree but had been running badly. This well bred horse ran in the money in a high class race and he was accused of juicing him. If that horse ran to his pedigree for a top trainer nothing would be said but since he got him to run well he was accused if using drugs.
It was the best job I ever had They actually paid me to go to Florida for the winter and Saratoga in August. When’s the horses returned in the spring I was lucky enough to get a job with Calumet. Having worked for several small trainers I was now working for one of the best. We came back 3 afternoons a week to graze the horses and even got a day off every week. Lucky for me our barn’s backyard was adjacent to Frank Whitley’s backyard. I got to see one of the most courageous horses Forego when his groom hosed his legs every day.. When I looked at his legs I got an education about bad legs. However he was a champion who won top level races carrying high weights.
Calumet had a 3 year filly Our Mims and an unrated 2 year old named Alydar. Classy champions. They had one of the old Calumet guest houses about 100 yards from the barn. I saw how class horses were trained. Opposed to ordinary training
That fall I had to leave because of back problems. Lucky for me I got a job with a wholesaler that was 5 minutes from the back barn entrance and spent my lunch hour at the track I worked for good and bad stables I saw many things happening, both good and bad.
I saw a trainer go into a stall with a towel on his hand hiding a syringe. I saw a trainer put an illegal powder in a horse’s feed. I also saw how a class operation worked with no drugs
I saw many things happening, some good and some bad. Dutrow did his time. Navarro and Servis are doing their punishment Unfortunately some bad things are happening.
If they want to stop all of this shit then they should operate like Las Vegas. A camera would be focused on every stall. When anyone enters the stall they would have to show what is in their hands and show went they had when exiting. It would be costly but would restore faith that there was nothing happening
Unfortunately things could happen when a new drug becomes available. Epogen was a drug for kidney patients that increased their function. The juicers were ahead of the testing. It becomes very expensive when a new drug appears that juices the horses but due to the cost (over $100 per dose)a test isn’t developed until there is a problem and it is being used . An upstart stable came to NYRA. They were using Epogen. They won at long prices frequently. However once the test was developed they disappeared and were never seen again.
.
Since the above was written I have had some other thoughts.
Year round racing has hurt the game. Closing in the middle of December gave everyone a break. The stable area would be closed and in the spring stalls would be allocated by who raced their horses in the lest year. When I worked there there was a horse that hadn’t raced in 3 years. Situations like that could e avoided. Thanks to simulcasting the revenue would still be there.
In the Sheepshead Bay Stakes in 2023 Christophe Clement entered 2 orses and Chad Brown entered 3. Brown scratched 1 leaving a field of 4. He never intended to run 3 but the race would have not gone with 4 horses. Manipulating the rules and the entry box????
NYRA inflates claiming prices. Their $12,500 horses are $7500 horses at other tracks. If these races are run at their true values there would be more shippers and the races would have more horses. The purses could stay at the current levels thanks to the slot machine revenues.
I am terribly afraid of Aqueduct closing and all downstate racing being at Belmont. Saratoga racing only in August was special. With all winter racing at Belmont it would become boring. Eventually the days would decrease and Saratoga would get more dates making it less special.
Queens College had a racing club that owned horses and rented a house in Saratoga for the month of August. All members plus others were always welcome – me. The cost of the house was divided by the total nights stayed and you would pay for the nights you were there (usually about $8 per night}. Today the house would have been cost prohibitive to rent for 2 months.
I would love talk to you. I can talk racing 26 hours a day 9 days a week LOL. Please contact me at alydar@optonline.net.
It is great to read you again. As demonstrated in this piece you are an excellent writer with the experience and temperament to explain the difficult situation we are in with the game we love. I’m a horseplayer who won’t quit the game even with the many inequities I know we face. For real, racing seems a lot like the world economy. The pigs at the top are doing better than ever with every “tax” advantage while the rest of us including small barns and players scramble with a passion for horses to stay involved.
I’m glad you are back. Stay strong. I will see you down the road.
I loved the call on Steve Byk’s show from Mike (Repole) of Queens. It just made my passion for racing greater.
I grew up working for a drug wholesaler that my father ran. I learned a lot about drugs’ uses After leaving that job I went to Breakfast at Belmont every day. I became friends with a trainer and one day he asked me if I wanted to go back to the barn to see the horses I was excited and went back. He asked me if I wanted to walk a sweet horse and I quickly said yes. This happened tor a few days. I was then asked to walk a second horse. On Friday he gave me some money for walking the horses and he said that I was hired.
We had a horse that was an ordinary horse. There was a tonic that each horse got 1 pump in their feed. We gave her 5 of 6 pumps every day. She won a race that weekend against much better horses. The trainer made a comment that the tonic wasn’t lasting as long as it should. We continued to give her the mega dose and decreased what we gave the other horses. She was entered again . She won and was claimed and never won again.
I saw a trainer who trained differently from other trainers and was always accused of doping horses. He regularly claimed horses and ran them back in 5 days and won. His barn was searched on a regular basis and nothing was found. He was giving them jugs (iv infusions) of legal vitamins. He didn’t get positive tests when his horses won and went to the spit box. His “secret” was don’t send the horses to the track but jog them around the shed row for an hour. They built up their wind and stamina. When they ran back quickly (less than 7 days) they ran like they were liked caged animals and won. They won at long prices and as short favorites. A trainer juicing horses would never juice a horse that was a short price. They would probably be tested as a short priced winner or as a favorite. He acquired a horse with a great pedigree but had been running badly. This well bred horse ran in the money in a high class race and he was accused of juicing him. If that horse ran to his pedigree for a top trainer nothing would be said but since he got him to run well he was accused if using drugs.
It was the best job I ever had They actually paid me to go to Florida for the winter and Saratoga in August. When’s the horses returned in the spring I was lucky enough to get a job with Calumet. Having worked for several small trainers I was now working for one of the best. We came back 3 afternoons a week to graze the horses and even got a day off every week. Lucky for me our barn’s backyard was adjacent to Frank Whitley’s backyard. I got to see one of the most courageous horses Forego when his groom hosed his legs every day.. When I looked at his legs I got an education about bad legs. However he was a champion who won top level races carrying high weights.
Calumet had a 3 year filly Our Mims and an unrated 2 year old named Alydar. Classy champions. They had one of the old Calumet guest houses about 100 yards from the barn. I saw how class horses were trained. Opposed to ordinary training
That fall I had to leave because of back problems. Lucky for me I got a job with a wholesaler that was 5 minutes from the back barn entrance and spent my lunch hour at the track I worked for good and bad stables I saw many things happening, both good and bad.
I saw a trainer go into a stall with a towel on his hand hiding a syringe. I saw a trainer put an illegal powder in a horse’s feed. I also saw how a class operation worked with no drugs
I saw many things happening, some good and some bad. Dutrow did his time. Navarro and Servis are doing their punishment Unfortunately some bad things are happening.
If they want to stop all of this shit then they should operate like Las Vegas. A camera would be focused on every stall. When anyone enters the stall they would have to show what is in their hands and show went they had when exiting. It would be costly but would restore faith that there was nothing happening
Unfortunately things could happen when a new drug becomes available. Epogen was a drug for kidney patients that increased their function. The juicers were ahead of the testing. It becomes very expensive when a new drug appears that juices the horses but due to the cost (over $100 per dose)a test isn’t developed until there is a problem and it is being used . An upstart stable came to NYRA. They were using Epogen. They won at long prices frequently. However once the test was developed they disappeared and were never seen again.
.
Since the above was written I have had some other thoughts.
Year round racing has hurt the game. Closing in the middle of December gave everyone a break. The stable area would be closed and in the spring stalls would be allocated by who raced their horses in the lest year. When I worked there there was a horse that hadn’t raced in 3 years. Situations like that could e avoided. Thanks to simulcasting the revenue would still be there.
In the Sheepshead Bay Stakes in 2023 Christophe Clement entered 2 orses and Chad Brown entered 3. Brown scratched 1 leaving a field of 4. He never intended to run 3 but the race would have not gone with 4 horses. Manipulating the rules and the entry box????
NYRA inflates claiming prices. Their $12,500 horses are $7500 horses at other tracks. If these races are run at their true values there would be more shippers and the races would have more horses. The purses could stay at the current levels thanks to the slot machine revenues.
I am terribly afraid of Aqueduct closing and all downstate racing being at Belmont. Saratoga racing only in August was special. With all winter racing at Belmont it would become boring. Eventually the days would decrease and Saratoga would get more dates making it less special.
Queens College had a racing club that owned horses and rented a house in Saratoga for the month of August. All members plus others were always welcome – me. The cost of the house was divided by the total nights stayed and you would pay for the nights you were there (usually about $8 per night}. Today the house would have been cost prohibitive to rent for 2 months.
I would love talk to you. I can talk racing 26 hours a day 9 days a week LOL. Please contact me at alydar@optonline.net.
Thanks for the post and keep fighting we’re rooting for you
It is great to read you again. As demonstrated in this piece you are an excellent writer with the experience and temperament to explain the difficult situation we are in with the game we love. I’m a horseplayer who won’t quit the game even with the many inequities I know we face. For real, racing seems a lot like the world economy. The pigs at the top are doing better than ever with every “tax” advantage while the rest of us including small barns and players scramble with a passion for horses to stay involved.
I’m glad you are back. Stay strong. I will see you down the road.
Joe P. Horne
Good to hear from you again and with the common sense that is lacking in racing
👏🏻🏇🏿❣️
So great to hear your post this evening !thank you Chuck. You're awesome!
GOD is great 🙏🏻🏇🏿🏇🏿🏇🏿🏇🏿❣️